2015 Ford Expedition, Refreshed and EcoBoosted

Fewer cylinders, more power, better mileage, still square.

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A typical life cycle for today’s passenger cars is usually about five to six years, but things are different in the truck world. Full-size pickups and SUVs can stick around for a decade or more with only minor visual changes. The general mantra is, “it’s what’s underneath that counts.” But every truck eventually needs a nip and tuck, so making its debut at the, um, 2014 Dallas Fort Worth auto show is the refreshed and reinvigorated 2015 Ford Expedition.

The Expedition, of course, has been Ford’s Tahoe-fighter since its 1997 introduction, gaining an independent rear suspension for 2002, and an all-around re-do in 2007. Not surprisingly, the changes for the 2015 Expedition and its long-wheelbase Expedition EL variant closely mirror those seen on the 2015 Lincoln Navigator, which debuted two weeks ago at the Chicago auto show: front and rear fascias, interior updates, and most significant, a switch from V-8 to turbocharged V-6 power.

If the truck in the pictures looks familiar—yes, that’s the new one—it’s because the styling changes are quite minor. The front end gets squintier headlamps, a rearranged front bumper, LED fog lights, and a surprisingly modest new grille with a trio of louvers without any sort of gauche chrome surround. Other changes are limited to new wheels, a redesigned liftgate, and new tailpipes. That’s it.

The model pictured is the new Platinum grade, which gets 22-inch wheels, special badging, and a fancy leather-lined interior; XLT and Limited trims will continue, and a new King Ranch model will be added in the future. The Expedition also gets a new instrument cluster, steering wheel, and center stack that accommodate Ford’s latest Sync and MyFord Touch technologies. Other tech items of note include keyless access and remote starting, a blind-spot monitor, a rearview camera, ambient lighting, a 700-watt Sony sound system, and Ford’s “truck apps” to augment various towing and off-road driving tasks.

While the interior and exterior changes are relatively predictable, and certainly not as noticeable as those of the 2015 Chevrolet Tahoe and (non-Denali) GMC Yukon, both of which are all-new this year, we imagine that Ford may raise a few customers’ eyebrows by dropping the current model’s 5.4-liter V-8 in favor of a direct-injected, 3.5-liter twin-turbocharged V-6. The switch makes more sense once you see the stats: the EcoBoost V-6 just wallops the old V-8 in output, with an estimated 365 horsepower and 420 lb-ft of torque compared to 310 horses and 365 lb-ft. It is also more powerful than the base 5.3-liter V-8 in the GM trucks, which produces 355 horsepower and 383 lb-ft of torque, although not as strong as the General’s optional 420-hp, 460 lb-ft 6.2-liter V-8.

If the EcoBoost V-6’s performance in the F-150 is anything to go by, it should be more than up to the task of getting the big truck up to speed, even with a full load or a trailer in tow. Ford also promises that the new Expo will get better fuel economy than the current model’s 14 mpg city/20 mpg highway, although we should note that we haven’t always seen real-world efficiency gains with Ford’s EcoBoosted pickup trucks. Again, we shall see. Ford is estimating the max tow rating of the EcoBoosted Expedition at 9200 pounds.

The Expedition will be in dealerships in the second half of 2014; expect prices to rise slightly, in keeping with Ford’s strategy of charging more up front for its fuel-saving EcoBoost technology.